New Delhi: Businessman Sathish Babu Sana approached the Delhi High Court Monday seeking quashing of a money laundering case, allegedly involving him and meat exporter Moin Qureshi.
The plea came up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar which listed it for November 27, along with a similar pending petition.
Sana, a Hyderabad-based businessman, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and later granted bail by a trial court in case relating to purported purchase of shares worth Rs 50 lakh of a company linked to Qureshi.
He also sought quashing of summons issued by the ED under section 50 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) July 18 and 25, alleging them to be illegal and violative of the provision of Indian Evidence Act and the Constitution.
The petition, filed through advocates Mohd Wasay khan and Shaikh Bakhtiyar, said earlier that Sana was named as a witness in the case and appearing before the ED in pursuance to the summons, he was arrested July 26 on the ground that there were contradictions in his statements.
The ED’s case was lodged on the basis of an FIR by the CBI in the matter.
The plea sought to declare Section 50(2) of the PMLA unconstitutional and violative of Section 132 of the Evidence Act and Article 20(3) so far as it is applied to a witness.
He also sought to declare that the change of status of Sana from a witness to an accused and his prosecution is illegal and unconstitutional.
As an interim relief, he sought a stay on the proceedings against him. He said one of the accused in the CBI FIR has filed a petition in the high court challenging the contradiction in his status in the two investigations for the same cause of action as he had been shown as accused in one and a witness in the other one for the same offence leading to two probes under two different statues.
The CBI’s special probe team, under the then Special Director Rakesh Asthana, had recommended Sana’s arrest in its own case against Qureshi and others.
However, in October last year, the Alok Kumar Verma-led agency registered a case of alleged corruption against Asthana and his subordinates, based on Sana’s complaint. Sana alleged that he had paid a bribe to get relief in the case.
Officials close to Asthana levelled similar allegations against Verma. The matter reached the Central Vigilance Commission, which initiated an inquiry into the charges and counter-charges.
Eventually, both Verma and Asthana were divested of their powers.
